The danger of not obeying God

“And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins,” Leviticus 26:18 (NKJV)

Commentary: No doubt, God is our “loving Father“, whose countless blessings, grace, and mercy are freely made available to us. However, He is also a “punishing Father” if we fail to strictly follow all His commandments. His relationship with the Israelites clearly shows us that He is capable of doing both the good and bad things depending on how we relate to Him.

Examples of God’s judgements against the Israelites include but are not limited to 1. Making them wander in the wilderness for 40 years due to their rebellion and unbelief (Numbers 14); 2. Sending plagues to discipline them for worshipping the golden calf dedicated to Baal (Exodus 32; Numbers 25).

Nevertheless, God’s goodness was revealed in Israelite’s powerful deliverance from Egypt (Exodus 1-14) and in protecting them from their enemies that included the Philistines, Midianites, and Amalekites (Judges; 1 Samuel).

Prayers: Forgive us O Lord, and continuously direct us in Your righteous path.

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Not Faith Only, Work (Action) Is Needed!

“Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:25-31 (NIV).

Commentary: Peter exercised his faith in Jesus Christ by actually stepping out of the boat to walk on the water. Something that is practically impossible to do due to gravity. Nonetheless he took the action to step on the water. He walked on the water for a little while until fear got a hold of him and he doubted in his heart whether he could truly be walking on the water. Then he began to drown, sinking into the water.

What can we learn from this? First, we must have faith in God that He can do whatever He had promised us. Second, we must take some actions towards achieving what we had already prayed to God for. Third, we must totally eliminate fear from our hearts.

Prayers: Give us, O Lord, a heart of faith, courage to act, and the power to continue believing in your divine guidance.

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God wants us to be grateful

“Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Luke 17-17-18 (NIV)

Commentary: God had constantly chided the Israelites for being ungrateful to Him, their Creator, while taking them out of Egypt and towards the Promised Land. Instead of being thankful for God’s supernatural deliverance, guidance, and provision, the people of Israel chose to rebel against God (Isaiah 1:2-3), they worshipped Baal or other gods (Hosea 11:1-2), forgot God’s wonderful works among them (Psalm 106:7,13), and absolutely scorned Him (Deuteronomy 32:15,16).

Today, we are exhorted in Colossians 3:17 (NIV) that, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Prayers: Give us oh Lord a heart of gratefulness, to constantly appreciate all you are doing for us!

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Jesus Christ’s kinds of prayers

“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words,” Matthew 6:7 (NIV)

Commentary: If we sweep through the Scriptures, we will discover that Jesus Christ actually had some prayer patterns that he followed and expect us to imitate:

  1. Jesus Christ’s prayers are always first addressed to God, not to other entities in the Bible or any popular religious personalities in his day (Matthew 6:9);
  2. His words are few, because he acknowledged that “for your Father knows what you need before you ask him,” Matthew 6:8 (NIV);
  3. His prayers are direct–He told God straightaway about the things he was praying for;
  4. He never doubted whether God had heard him or not. In John 11:42, he said, “I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
  5. Jesus Christ prayed fervently. “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground,” Luke 22:44 (NIV)

Prayers: Teach us how to pray the kinds of prayers that are swiftly answered by You, O Lord!

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Jesus Christ has disarmed evil powers for you

““And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross,” Colossians 2:15.

Commentary: Jesus Christ told Peter, one of his disciples that “And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” ” (Luke 22:31-32, NKJV).

Two things are clear in the quoted Scriptures above: (1) The Devil always asks for the permission to get to you–the believer. This is because Satan can’t just get into your business if your life is truly committed into God’s hands. You are the apple of God’s eye (Psalm 17:8), and to reach you, the Devil must first of all meet God; (2) God doesn’t all the time grant the Devil’s requests. But when He does, God allows that to happen for a particular period and has already prepared a way of escape from the circumstance because He won’t allow you to be tempted beyond your ability to handle the situation (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Prayers: May the victory Jesus Christ has won for us remain permanent in our lives.

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Be guided by the Holy Spirit

“Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives,” Galatians 5:25 (NLT)

Commentary: Jesus Christ told his disciples that He will send the “Holy Spirit” to them, who will guide them into all the truth. This simply means that the Holy Ghost is our “guidance counsellor” if we listen to his silent whisperings.

Unfortunately, you may not be able to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit if you are living a sinful life. For the Scriptures says, “do not annoy the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 4:30). We make the Holy Spirit feel uncomfortable when we continue to live in sins.

Prayers: May the Spirit of the Lord guide me in all my ways.

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Let’s do what God has commanded in His Word

“So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there,” 1 Kings 17:5 (NIV)

Commentary: Prophet Elijah totally obeyed the instructions of the Lord in one of his recorded acts of wonder, when he commanded that there would be no dew nor rain in Israel for years (1 Kings 17:1-7). The lesson for us in this passage: When we absolutely follow God’s words and do according to His commands, God will keep His part of the promise and bring to pass our long-expected miracles!

Prayers: May the Lord give us the power to wholeheartedly follow His commandments.

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Love the Lord with all your might

“I love you, LORD; you are my strength,” Psalm 18:1 (NLT).

Commentary: We love the Lord because He first loves us. As believers, we derive our strength from reciprocating God’s love towards Him. Jesus Christ once said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,” Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV).

Prayers: By loving God genuinely, we call upon Him to be our strength in times of need.

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Singing to God with gratitude in your heart

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts,” Colossians 3:16 (NIV)

Commentary: The Book of Psalms exhorts believers to “Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs,” Psalm 100:2 (NIV). By singing to the Lord from our hearts, we are constantly reconnecting with the power of God that works wonders in the Universe.

We can vividly remember how the people of Israel, through praising God, won several battles against their enemies, particularly defeating three powerful enemies from Ammon, Moab, and Moun Seir without using any physical weapons of war! (2 Chronicles 20:22).

Paul and Silas invoked God’s power by merely praying and singing songs and hymns when they were incarcerated. According to the Scriptures in Acts 16:25-34, the Holy Spirit came down and their chains and shackles were broken.

Prayers: May the Spirit of the Lord fill us with merriment and God’s praises that can spark God’s blessings and deliverance in our lives.

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We have forgiveness of sins through God’s grace

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace,” Ephesians 1:7 (NLT).

Commentary: The hymn “Nothing but the blood of Jesus” constantly reminds us that all our sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus. This eternal redemption comes into fulfilment through the grace of God bestowed on us by virtue of Christ’s great sacrifice on the cross of calvary.

As Jesus Christ used to tell people: “Go and sin no more!“. This is eternally applicable to us as well. Therefore, let’s rejoice in God’s unmerited favor displayed towards us.

Prayers: May the blood of Jesus Christ shed for our redemption remain ever powerful in our lives.

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Pursue peace with everyone

“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord,” Hebrews 12:14 (NIV)

Commentary: As believers we are encouraged to do everything within our power to live in peace with the other people. Jesus Christ admonished his disciples to be harmless. In Matthew 10:16, Jesus said, “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves,” (NLT). This entails that we should avoid losing our cool or temper when, in actual fact, God has endowed us with the gentle spirit of a dove.

Prayers: May the peace of God reign over the earth.

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Stand fast in God’s true grace

“With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it,” 1 Peter 5:12 (NIV).

Commentary: God’s grace is an unmerited favor, which means we do not have it because of our good works or self-imposed holiness. God just gives us His grace because He genuinely loves us. He wants us to be happy, fulfilled, and righteous. Our duty is to be forever grateful to God for this show of unmerited kindness. We can do this by loving one another dearly, because Jesus Christ said, ‘the most important commandment I will give you is: “Love ye one another!” ‘

Prayers: May Your grace abound in our lives and be reflected in everything we do, O Lord.

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